After beating Mobile Christian 43-40 on Tuesday, the Goshen Eagles will advance to the Class 21A Region Semifinals on Friday.

“I am very excited for our guys,” said Eagles head coach Ethan Carroll. “We still have a lot that we need to work on between now and Friday night. We need to learn how to finish. We got the win. All these guys are young and all these things are new experiences for them.”

Neither team led by more than five points during the first half, and the Eagles were able to close out the half with a 22-18 lead.

The Eagles got good production from Michael Hollis and Brock Snyder in the third period to hang onto the lead.

Both teams entered the fourth quarter with a sense of urgency and made big time shots down the stretch. The Leopards tied the score at 37 with 2 minutes remaining.

After both teams traded baskets the game was tied at 39 with just 55 seconds remaining. Zach Alford was fouled attempting a shot and had the opportunity to give his team the lead, but both his shots came up empty.

After the second miss, the Eagles fouled the Leopards sending them to the line. They converted on the first shot to give them the lead with just under a minute left.

The Eagles were able to answer. Alford scored the Eagles’ final four points in the quarter to secure the win for Goshen.

“Hats off to Zach Alford,” Carroll said. “We have been running his legs off all year. I can name 10 games where he had to do it for us. That is the burden God has put on him, and he was able to finish tonight.”

Alford and Hollis led the Eagles with 13 points apiece.

Now the Eagles will have to prepare for Dothan where the competition level will rise.

“We have to take care of our problems,” Carroll said. “Once we have a higher basketball IQ and we can fix our issues, we will be ready to rock and roll.”